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Windows license server (stand-alone or part of a triad) fails to perform with error message: "read data from license server system. (-16,287)" What needs to be done?

While on SOLARIS machines this is a common error message, when the user's "file descriptor" limit is set too low, on Windows machine it can be connected to 2 possible causes.

1.) The path of the FlexLm directory is too long. This does not happen if the default installation directory is used.

-->Install in the default installation directory or in a shorter directory.

2.) On machines that did run previously it is more likely that the lmgrd and the vendor daemon are running but not responding, thus making a communication impossible. This can be caused by zombie processes

-->Terminate the lmgrd and vendor processes and restart them manually. Alternatively you can also reboot the server.